In a disgusting idea that, Lord knows how it was approved, German state broadcaster ARD took a poll and found that out of 1,304 randomly surveyed Germans, 21% would prefer that more of the German national team’s representation be white.
Upon learning of the survey, manager Julian Nagelsmann did not hesitate to condemn the broadcaster for even thinking it was a good idea to do such a poll, calling it “madness”.
“I thought about it briefly, and I have the feeling that we need to wake up a bit,” Nagelsmann stated. “There are people in Europe who’ve had to flee because of war, economic factors, environmental disasters, people who simply want to be taken in. We have to ask what are we doing at the moment? We in Germany are doing very, very well, and when we say something like that, I think it’s crazy how we turn a blind eye and simply block out such things.“
Joshua Kimmich on poll asking about German national team
Midfielder Joshua Kimmich also did not hold back in his thoughts on the poll, calling it “absolutely racist”.
Nagelsmann doubled down on Kimmich’s perception, stating, “I always find it bizarre that we all go on vacation to get to know other cultures and then other cultures come here and we complain about it. It’s bizarre.”
The first black player to represent the German national soccer team was Gerald Asamoah. Asamoah, who was born in Ghana but became a naturalized German citizen, made his debut for the German national team in 2001. He had a successful international career, representing Germany in major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship.
Since then, players of all nationalities and backgrounds have elevated German soccer and have been pivotal in moving the program forward.